This publication contains information on bicycle usage obtained from the October 2003 State Supplementary Survey, Bicycle Usage and Household Telephone Connections, Queensland. It presents information on the bicycle riding practices of persons aged 15 years and over who had ridden in the previous 12 months. The focus is on the purpose and frequency of riding.

Topics covered include: number of bicycles, frequency of and reasons for cycling in the previous 12 months; and whether cyclists possess a current drivers licence.

Information about household telephone connections is included in the publication Household Telephone Connections, Queensland, October 2003 (cat. no. 8159.3).

SUMMARY OF FINDINGS

BICYCLE USAGE IN QUEENSLAND

In October 2003, an estimated 686,700 (46.6%) of the 1,473,200 private dwellings in Queensland had at least one bicycle in good working order. The proportion of households with bicycles varied across the state, from 37.9% in the Brisbane City Inner Ring Statistical Region (SR) to 53.6% in the North and West Moreton Statistical Region.

For the purposes of the survey, cyclists were defined as persons aged 15 years and over who had ridden a bicycle in the 12 months to October 2003. An estimated 819,100 persons rode a bicycle in the survey period. There were more male cyclists (59.8%) than female cyclists (40.2%).

There was little difference in the age distribution of male and female cyclists. Around three quarters of all cyclists, males and females, were aged from 15 to 44 years (males 74.0%, females 77.8%).

CYCLISTS BY STATISTICAL REGION

FREQUENCY OF CYCLING

An estimated 37.4% of cyclists rode at least once a week (8.3% rode daily); an additional 7.9% rode once a fortnight and 14.5% once a month. The remaining cyclists (40.2%) rode less than once a month including those who only cycled on an adhoc basis, for example, during their annual holiday.

Of the cyclists who rode at least once a week, 32.2% were aged 15-24 years. Generally, the numbers of regular cyclists decreased as the ages increased.

Male cyclists were more likely to ride each day than females (10.9% compared to 4.5%). Aside from daily cycling, males were more likely to cycle at least once a week than females were (30.9% compared to 26.5%).

FREQUENCY OF CYCLING BY SEX

Almost half of all cyclists (47.6%) rode on both weekdays and weekends. There were 13.1% of cyclists who rode only on weekdays and 39.3% who only rode on weekends.

People in different statistical regions reported different frequencies of cycling. More than half the cyclists (51.6%) in Wide Bay-Burnett SR reported cycling at least once a week, the highest proportion across the state. The South and East BSD Balance had the lowest proportion of people who cycled at least once a week (31.3%). Overall, there was a lower proportion of cyclists in the Brisbane Major Statistical Region (MSR) with 33.8% cycling at least once a week compared to 40.2% in the remainder of the state.

REASONS FOR CYCLING

Cyclists could nominate more than one reason for cycling; the most common reason was for recreational and social purposes (64.0%). Exercise and training (42.6%) was the next common reason followed by travelling to and from shops (11.9%) and travelling to and from work (10.7%). Cyclists in the Brisbane MSR rode more for recreational and social purposes than those in the rest of the state (68.2% compared with 60.6%); however, the reasons for people cycling were fairly consistent across statistical regions.

REASONS FOR CYCLING

There was a marked consistency in the reasons for cycling given by males and females. The exception was travelling to and from work, where more than twice as many males than females used this mode of transport (13.7% of male cyclists compared with 6.3% of female cyclists).

CYCLISTS WITH MOTOR VEHICLE LICENCES

An estimated 84.6% of persons aged 15 years and over who rode a bicycle in the last 12 months also had a motor vehicle licence. This proportion was relatively consistent across the state, with the lowest proportion (76.7%) recorded in the Far North SR and the highest (87.6%) in the South and East BSD Balance SR.

Cyclists without a licence rode more regularly than cyclists with a licence. There were 62.9% of cyclists without a licence who rode daily or at least once a week, compared to 32.8% of cyclists with a licence. Of those who cycled daily, 22.4% did not have a licence compared to 5.7% who did have a licence.

There was little difference in the proportions of cyclists with or without a motor vehicle licence who cycled for recreation and social reasons (63.6% and 66.1% respectively). More cyclists with licences (45.9%) rode for exercise and training purposes than those without licences (24.5%). This proportion was reversed for cycling to and from shops, with 20.9% of cyclists without a licence giving this as a reason compared to 10.3% of cyclists with a licence. A similar result occurred for those reporting all other reasons for cycling (26.8% of cyclists without a licence compared with 7.8% of cyclists with a licence).